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2011 Chevrolet Volt vs. Its Competition

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TCC Rating

How does the TCC Rating work?

The TCC Rating is a clear numeric rating value based on a 10-point scale that reflects the overall opinion of our automotive experts on any vehicle and rolls up ratings we give each vehicle across sub-categories you care about like performance, safety, styling and more.

Our rating also has simple color-coded “Stop” (red), “Caution” (orange), or “Go” (green) messages along with the numerical score so you can easily understand where we stand at a glance.

Our automotive experts then also collect and show you what other websites say about these different aspects of any vehicle. We do this leg work for you to simplify your research process.

Our expert editors build comparisons like this one to make it easy
for you to understand the small handful of cars you should compare
to whatever car you are already looking at. You get general thoughts
on each car you should consider plus an easy way to compare basic
information for yourself.

The 2011 Nissan Leaf, which goes on sale on a limited basis about the same time as the Volt, is an all-electric car, with a range of about 100 miles.

Simpler in purpose—and more than $10k cheaper than the Volt—the Leaf has no fuel tank, no tailpipe, and no conventional gasoline engine, so it's a greener solution if your daily driving is in the 40-90-mile range.

The Tesla Roadster is also an all-electric vehicle, but this little two-seater is a cartoonish exaggeration of what an EV can be—an EV exotic of sorts—capable of zero to 60 in less than four seconds.

And of course the Toyota Prius, ceremonial king of green cars, bears some contrast; Toyota is preparing a plug-in version of the Prius, but its all-electric capability will remain for low-speed operation only and its range will be very limited—less than 15 miles, typically.

The Lexus HS 250h is another alternative; but at nearly twice the price of a Prius, it appeals to the luxury set.

Unfortunately it neither has the mileage of the Prius nor its nimble driving demeanor.